About Us

About CSU Extension

Do you sometimes feel like you’re on information overload? With hundreds of television channels to choose from, social media options such as Twitter and Facebook, and more and more websites popping up every day, it’s challenging to know which information to trust.

Colorado State University Extension can provide relief by offering reliable, research-based information to help you make informed decisions.

Wherever you live, Extension’s job is to determine what issues, concerns and needs are unique to each community, and offer sound and effective solutions. Whether you have a question about health, financial literacy, pasture or livestock management, weeds, pests or gardens, 4-H or youth development, renewable energy, elder or child-care issues, CSU Extension can connect you to the latest, most accurate data.

For over 100 years, Extension has helped people in Colorado find the answers they need—for a healthy home life and successful business. And now with our partners at eXtension.org, everyone with a computer has access to a nation-wide network of professionals who can help answer specific questions and solve distinctive problems.

There’s only one difference between Colorado State University Extension and the University itself: the entire state is our campus. Our system of county offices puts Extension resources within easy reach of Colorado’s 64 counties.

In 1914, Congress authorized land-grant Universities in every state to feed research-based information to Extension agents in each county. We’ve been in the education/information business ever since.

Faculty and staff with expertise in agriculture, horticulture, range, forestry, water, health promotion, financial literacy, business management, community development and 4-H youth-development-based in counties and on campus-are all part of Extension’s effort to bring the latest information to the people of Colorado.

4-H Youth Development
Each year, nearly 100,000 Colorado youth benefit from Extension’s 4-H programs by participating in hands-on projects including: environmental science, rocketry, foods and nutrition, animal science, photography and more. As a result, they learn valuable life skills such as leadership, ethics, decision making, record keeping, responsibility and community service.

Water Quality and Water Saving Education
One example of how we help Colorado citizen’s understand and protect water resources in the state, Extension, in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, developed guidelines to help Colorado crop producers employ Best Management Practices that protect the state’s water resources while allowing producers to remain economically competitive.

Native Plant Masters
After training and certification, volunteers educate the public about using and appreciating native Colorado plants; this fosters stewardship and sustainable use of plant resources.

Resources

Programs are just one way Extension delivers quality information. You can also access a huge database of downloadable resources from our on-campus Resource Center. Our publications are not textbooks, but easy-to-read booklets, information sheets, and brochures. The resources are specifically intended for everyday use and application, written by experts and based on the latest findings. To learn more, go to: http://extension.colostate.edu/publications-2/

Accurate and Unbiased Information

Answers are as close as your nearest county Extension office. When you are looking for straightforward, research-based, usable information, make your first stop CSU Extension. You won’t need to go any further.

Call your nearest county extension office for more information. Let Colorado State University Extension help you to improve the quality of life for your family and your community.

Colorado Revised Statutes Title 23, Article 34 outlines the objectives of CSU Extension, “The objectives of the service’s programs shall continue to be the dissemination of information to the people of this state in order to assist them in applying the results of scientific research and technological developments, as well as lessons from practical experience to the solution of individual, family and community problems, drawing on relevant knowledge from various fields, including but not limited to agriculture, natural resources, home economics, nutrition, health, citizenship, and community and economic development.”

This act goes on to outline the authority to accomplish the purposes of the article. These include, under (e), “development of interstate and multicounty administrative or program arrangements, memoranda of understanding and agreements to achieve state extension objectives.”